Paul, Barnabas and Christ: mistaken as Gods

Most Christians claim that the miracles of Christ is a great evidence to prove that he is God. They say that because of the miracles, the power which is in Christ make him God.

Is this kind of thinking TRUE?


On Paul and Barnabas

"In Lystra there was a man who had something wrong with his feet. He had been born crippled and had never walked. He was sitting and listening to Paul speak. Paul looked straight at him and saw that the man believed God could heal him. So Paul shouted, “Stand up on your feet!” The man jumped up and began walking around.
When the people saw what Paul did, they shouted in their own Lycaonian language. They said, “The gods have come down to us in the form of humans!” The people began to call Barnabas “Zeus,” and they called Paul “Hermes,” because he was the main speaker. The temple of Zeus was near the city. The priest of this temple brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. The priest and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas.
But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, understood what the people were doing, they tore their own clothes. Then they ran in among the people and shouted to them: “Men, why are you doing this? We are not gods. We are human just like you. We came to tell you the Good News. We are telling you to turn away from these worthless things. Turn to the true living God, the one who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.
“In the past God let all the nations do what they wanted. But God was always there doing the good things that prove he is real. He gives you rain from heaven and good harvests at the right times. He gives you plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
Even after saying all this, Paul and Barnabas still could hardly stop the people from offering sacrifices to them.
Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the people to turn against Paul. So they threw stones at him and dragged him out of the town. They thought they had killed him. But when the followers of Jesus gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he and Barnabas left and went to the city of Derbe." Acts 14:8-20

On our Lord Jesus Christ

Catholics and Protestants believe that Christ is God because of the miracles he performed. On a website, it is said that those miracles TESTIFY or PROVE that he is God:

IV. Jesus' Miracles Testify that He is God

Matt. 1:23; Mark 1:27,35 - Jesus was conceived in the virginal womb of the Blessed Mother.
Matt. 3:16-17; Mark 1:10-11; John 1:32 - God's Spirit descends upon Jesus and the Father declares Jesus to be His Son.
Matt. 4:23-24; 9:35;15:30; Mark 1:34; 3:10; 6:5; Luke 4:40; 7:10; 13:13; 14:4; John 4:52 - Jesus miraculously cures illness and disease.
Matt. 7:35 - Jesus cures a deaf person with a speech impediment.
Matt. 8:3; Mark 1:41; Luke 5:13; 17:14 - Jesus cures leprosy.
Matt. 9:21-22; Mark 5:27-34; Luke 8:44 - the hem of Jesus' cloak cures the woman with the hemorrhage. See also Matt. 14:36.
Matt. 8:13; 9:7; Mark 2:9; Luke 5:25 - Jesus cures those who are paralyzed.
Matt. 8:15; Mark 1:31; Luke 4:39 - Jesus cures Peter's mother-in-law's fever.
Matt. 8:26; Mark 4:39; Luke 8:24 - Jesus calms the storm. Even the wind and sea obey Him.
Matt. 8:32; 9:33; 12:22; 15:28; 17:18; Mark 1:26,34; 3:11; 5:13; 7:30; 9:26; Luke 4:35,41; 8:33; 9:42; 11:14 - Jesus has power over demons.
Matt. 9:4; 12:25; Luke 6:8; 11:17 - Jesus knows people's thoughts.
Matt. 9:25; Mark 5:24; John 11:44 - Jesus raises people from the dead.
Matt. 9:30; 12:22; 20:34; 21:14; Mark 8:25; 10:52; Luke 7:21; 18:42; John 9:11 - Jesus cures the blind.
Matt. 12:13; Mark 3:5; Luke 6:10 - Jesus cures the man with the withered hand.
Matt. 14:19-20; 5:36-37; Mark 6:41-42; 8:7-8; Luke 9:16-17; John 6:11 - Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish and feeds the crowd of thousands.
Matt. 14:26; Mark 6:48; John 6:19 - Jesus walks on water.
Matt. 15:21; 16:21; 17:9,22; 20:18-19; 26:2; Mark 10:33-34; Luke 9:44; 17:25; 18:32-34 - Jesus predicts His passion.
Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:29 - Jesus is transfigured in glory.
Matt. 17:27 - Jesus miraculously has a shekel appear in the mouth of a fish.
Matt. 21:2-3; Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30 - Jesus predicts that a colt would be available for Him.
Matt. 21:19; Mark 11:14,20 - Jesus curses the fig tree and it withers.
Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:32 - Jesus predicts the fall of Jerusalem which occurred in 70 A.D.
Matt. 26:21-25; Mark 14:18-20; Luke 22:21; John 13:21,26 - Jesus predicts Judas' betrayal.
Matt. 26:26-28; Mk. 14:22,24; Luke 22;19-20; 1 Cor. 11:24-25 - Jesus changes bread and wine into His body and blood.
Matt. 26:34; Mark 14:30; Luke 22:34; John 13:38 - Jesus predicts Peter's denial.
Matt. 27:51-54; Mark 15:38-39 - supernatural events occur at Jesus' death.
Matt. 28:9; Mark 16:9,12,14; Luke 7:14-15; 8:54-55; 24:5,31,36; John 20:14,19,26; 21:1-14 - Jesus rises from the dead.
Mark 14:13; Luke 22:10 - Jesus predicts that a man carrying a jug of water will show them the furnished room for the Passover.
Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51 - Jesus ascends into heaven.
Luke 2:13-14 - the angels praise Jesus' birth.
Luke 5:7; John 21:6 - Jesus directs the miraculous catch of fish.
Luke 24:31 - Jesus has the ability to vanish out of sight.
John 2:9 - Jesus changes water into wine.
John 13:36; 21:18 - Jesus predicts Peter's death. Peter was martyred in Rome around 67 A.D.
John 20:19,26 - Jesus has the ability to appear even when the doors are locked.

source: scripturecatholic.com

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A CASE OF MISINTERPRETATION

The thinking of people who believed that Paul and Barnabas are same with on how people think about Christ, they believe them as GODS.


Paul and Barnabas are incarnated

"When the people saw what Paul did, they shouted in their own Lycaonian language. They said, “The gods have come down to us in the form of humans!” Acts 14:11

Jesus incarnated

Christ is God believers say that Jesus is incarnated, a god that come down from heaven, conceived by the virgin Mary, and lived as Human. They say that Jesus is true God and true Man.



Paul and Barnabas: we are human just like you!

“Men, why are you doing this? We are not gods. We are human just like you..." Acts 14:15

Jesus: I am a man!

"I am a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that." John 8:40

Apostle Paul: Jesus is a human, i am telling the truth, i am not lying!

"There is one God and one mediator so that human beings can reach God. That way is through Christ Jesus, who is himself human. He gave himself as a payment to free all people. He is proof that came at the right time. That is why I was chosen to tell the Good News and to be an apostle. (I am telling the truth; I am not lying.) I was chosen to teach those who are not Jews to believe and to know the truth." I tim. 2:5-7



Paul and Barnabas: turn to the true living God!

"...We are not gods. We are human just like you. We came to tell you the Good News. We are telling you to turn away from these worthless things. Turn to the true living God, the one who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them." Acts 14:15

Jesus: Father is the only true God!

"And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent." John 17:3

Apostle Paul: FOR US, there is only one God, the Father!

"yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live." I Cor. 8:6-7



People cant stop offering sacrifices to the mistaken gods, Paul and Barnabas

"Even after saying all this, Paul and Barnabas still could hardly stop the people from offering sacrifices to them." Acts 14:18

People cant stop offering sacrifices to the mistaken God, Jesus Christ

Christ is God believers can stop believing Jesus as the TRUE GOD, they cant stop offering sacrifices and honoring him as the TRUE GOD.

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But the question is, where does the POWER to perform miracles came?

On Apostle Paul

"God used Paul to do some very special miracles. Some people took handkerchiefs and clothes that Paul had used and put them on the sick. When they did this, the sick were healed and evil spirits left them." Acts 19: 11-12


On Jesus

"People of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a very special man. God clearly showed this to you by the miracles, wonders, and signs he did through Jesus. You all know this, because it happened right here among you. Acts 2:22

The only one source of the miracles is none other than the ONLY TRUE GOD, THE FATHER. Saying Jesus Christ is God only because of the miracles he performed is believing that Apostle Peter, Apostle Paul, Elijah and/or those who have performed miracles written in the bible are also Gods. Paul and Barnabas, in their story were already mistaken as Gods by some people, how about you? Are you one of those people who mistaken Christ as God???


Belief of Jesus is God--> the formulation of the doctrine started in the 4th century and took 100+ years upon completion on its definition! Meaning, it was not what the apostles taught, the doctrine itself is nowhere in the bible...

"But I am afraid that your minds will be led away from your true and pure following of Christ. This could happen just as Eve was tricked by that snake with his clever lies. You seem to be quite patient with anyone who comes to you and tells you about a Jesus that is different from the Jesus we told you about. You seem very willing to accept a spirit or a message that is different from the Spirit and message that you received from us." II Cor. 11:3-4

The conversion of Cornelius and Apostle Paul

It is the Church which has relationship with Christ by virtue of its being Christ's body and Christ's bride.

"Relationship with Christ, not religion or church, is all a person needs to attain everlasting life."

This is the common view of salvation and service to God of people today who are heavily influenced by the faith-alone concept of salvation. After all, they add, it is not the Church but Christ who saves; it was not the Church but Christ who died on the cross to redeem the sinners. Therefore, it is not the Church that we need but Christ, they conclude.

For the dangers this and other similar beliefs pose, it is necessary to investigate them in the light of the teaching of the Gospel. Two instances in the New Testament are useful in disabusing the mind from a tendentious attitude against church membership the case of the conversion of Cornelius and that of Apostle Paul.


THE CASE OF CORNELIUS

Cornelius, the centurion or captain of an Italian regiment mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, possessed the qualities usually claimed by those who think that they can serve God directly without affiliating with any religious organization and that they can be religious without necessarily joining any religion.

"He was a religious man; he and his whole family worshiped God. He also did much to help the Jewish poor people and was constantly praying to God." Acts 10:2

In spite of these qualities, Cornelius was instructed by God through an angel that in order for his prayers to be answered he was to send for Simon Peter, so that he could hear what the apostle of Christ had to say (Acts 10:22). What was it that Cornelius must hear from Apostle Peter? In Acts 11:13-14, it is written:

"He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, Send someone to Joppa for a man whose full name is Simon Peter. He will speak words to you by which you and all your family will be saved.¨

All those things that Cornelius was doing worshiping God, doing works of charity, and praying to God, which are undoubtedly religious deeds were not sufficient for him to attain salvation. He had yet to hear, together with his family, the words they had to hear from one of God's messengers, Apostle Peter:

"While Peter was still speaking, The Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message.¨ Acts 10:44

Then, true to the injunction of the Lord Jesus Christ to go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all mankind and whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mk. 16:15-16), Apostle Peter ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48). They were baptized into the one body (I Cor. 12:13), which is the Church of Christ:

"He is the head of his body, the church,¨ Col. 1:18


"Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.¨ Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation

Therefore, Cornelius and his family were brought into the Church of Christ. This was done in order for them to be saved, because it is the Church that Christ will save:

"For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body.¨ Eph. 5:23

The Church is important not because it can save us but because it is that which Christ will save. It should not be taken to mean, however, that membership in any church will do, but rather only in the true Church of Christ.


THE CONVERSION OF APOSTLE PAUL

The case of the conversion of Apostle Paul is also highly instructive, particularly to those who try to evade the issue of Church membership by saying that they already belong to a religion, are already conversant with the laws and commandments of God, serving Him in all zealousness, and leading a holy life by their own standard, of course.

Before his conversion into the Church of Christ, Apostle Paul possessed all these and more. Says he, in Acts 22:3:

"I am Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today.¨

So, Apostle Paul belonged to a particular religion prior to his conversion. And he was not just a nominal member. In Galatians 1:13, he says:

"You have been told how I used to live when I was devoted to the Jewish religion.¨

He further testified that when he was still a member of Judaism, As far as a person can be righteous by obeying the commands of the Law, "I was without fault¨ (Philip. 3:6) He was knowledgeable about the laws and statutes of his religion. From the perception of Paul prior to his conversion, he was rendering services to God. In fact, so dedicated was he in his former religion that he was intolerant of other beliefs. He persecuted the Church without mercy and did his best to destroy it (Gal. 1:13)

But Paul's conversion came eventually, dramatically, and stunningly. In a fit of a strong religious intolerance, he set out to arrest the members of the Church, which he persecuted with murderous zeal (Acts 9:1-2) He was on his way to give bent to his prejudice against the Church when his conversion took place:

"As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ¡¥Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord? he asked. I am Jesus, whom you persecute, the voice said.¨ Acts 9:3-5

It could be argued that Paul was persecuting the Church, not Christ who was then already in heaven. But as far as Christ is concerned whatever harm is done to His Church is also harm done to Him. To persecute the Church is to persecute Christ because the Church is His body.


The Church is Christ's bride. Paul, then already a servant of the church, says:

"I am jealous for you [referring to the church], just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself.¨ II Cor. 11:2

How then could anybody say that the Church is not important, that membership in it is not necessary, and that all a person needs is relationship with Christ? It is the Church which has relationship with Christ by virtue of its being Christ's body and Christ's bride. The providential relationship between the husband and wife was used by Apostle Paul to illustrate the great truth concerning the relationship between Christ and His Church. He says:

"As the scripture says, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one. There is a deep secret truth revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church.¨ Eph. 5:31-32

Therefore, sneering at the Church, and preaching against the necessity of membership in it mean failure to understand the truth revealed in this Scripture. Fortunately, anyone can still avail of the benefits of church membership if, taking the cue from the Apostle Paul's conversion, he also comes to realize the importance of membership in the true Church and act accordingly.


How did Apostle Paul view his conversion, and where was he brought to upon believing and accepting Christ as his Lord? In Timothy 1:12, Paul says:

"I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength for my work, I thank him for considering me worthy and appointing me to serve him.¨

And where did God place the apostles who were given the right to serve? I Corinthians 12:28, states: "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,..." (Ibid.)

Prior to Paul's conversion to the Church of Christ, he was already ardently serving God. Obviously his services then were not acceptable to God, for why should he be called to the Church if his services in his former religion already were? Calling him to serve God in the Church would then be superfluous wouldnt it? But Paul was called so that he could serve God in a manner acceptable to Him.


Apostle Paul was able to serve God properly and acceptably by becoming a member of the true Church of Christ because it is that which Christ has purchased by His blood (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation). By so shedding His blood to cleanse the Church, it is Christ's Church that obtains the right to serve God (Heb. 9:14).


Therefore, joining the true Church of Christ is necessary in order to obtain the right to serve God and to be saved.


(Excerpt from a leaflet published by the INC entitled 'The conversion of Cornelius and of Apostle Paul')

source: truthfinder website
(from the request of Bro. bagwisngagila)